Anthony Bourdain May Not Hate Rachael Ray

Wow. I never thought this day would come. I may not have to choose between Anthony Bourdain and Rachael Ray. Have you ever seen No Reservations? It is a hilarious show on the Travel Channel hosted by Bourdain, although you have to really enjoy a dry and somewhat dark sense of humor. Bourdain often makes snarky comments about Rachael Ray (I still laugh). I read and loved his book, Kitchen Confidential and I am looking forward to reading his newest book, The Nasty Bits.

Now it appears that he may have changed his mind about Rachael Ray. The Chicago Tribune recently interviewed Bourdain and asked him about his disdain for Emeril Lagasse, and his surprising answer included some grudging praise for Rachael Ray:

Bourdain on Emeril Lagasse, whom he has lambasted in the past, and on the celebrity chef phenomenon:

"I've done a complete turnaround on Emeril," he said. "You know, I have to think: `How much love does that guy need?' It's getting kind of pathetic. But the cool thing about the celebrity chef syndrome is that a bunch of guys like Mario Batali"--Bourdain clearly adores Batali: his name kept coming up--"can get together and decide, `OK, this coming year, we're going to serve pork belly,' or something. They can really set an agenda.

"Even somebody like Rachael Ray: If she gets people thinking, `Hey, I can do that,' " Bourdain said, then they're on their way to learning more about food. "The one who really gets me, though, is Sandra Lee (of the Food Network's "Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee"). She teaches people that `squeeze cheez' and crackers really are OK."